MicroStrategy sold 1,638 bitcoin for $104.7 million in the week ending August 2, dumping the coins at an average price of $63,957 each. That's $11,462 below what the company originally paid. The move signals a sharp reversal for a firm that built its reputation on relentless bitcoin accumulation.
The proceeds split neatly: $52.4 million funded preferred stock dividends, another $52.3 million went toward repurchasing the company's own STRC shares. MicroStrategy also raised $290.6 million by issuing fresh common stock, parking $250 million into a USD Reserve that now sits at $4 billion. The board kept the preferred stock's annual dividend locked at 12% and declared two semi-monthly payments of $0.50 per share.
The Flywheel Reverses
What matters here is the shape of the pivot. MicroStrategy constructed STRC, a variable-rate preferred security, specifically as an engine to fund bitcoin purchases. Now the company is selling bitcoin at a loss and printing common shares just to keep that engine alive. STRC trades just over $92, a $8 discount to its $100 par value. The board has authorized up to $1.25 billion in bitcoin sales to cover obligations and signaled plans to push that ceiling to $5 billion.
The company hasn't reported a single bitcoin purchase in more than five weeks. That drought follows a $8.22 billion net loss in Q2, driven almost entirely by an $8.32 billion unrealized markdown on the bitcoin holdings under fair-value accounting.
Still a Whale, But Burning
MicroStrategy still holds 842,138 bitcoin, just over 4% of the 21 million maximum supply. Even with these sales, the company remains one of the largest holders on Earth. But the arithmetic has flipped. Where the model once fed on rising bitcoin prices, now every uptick in the asset gets swallowed by losses on the preferred security and the cost of defending it through dilution and asset sales.
This is an informational piece about corporate bitcoin holdings and capital structures, not financial advice on whether to buy, sell, or hold any asset.
